Hey guys! Has anyone stayed with Oakhouse for a year before? I’m thinking of booking with them, but I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you stayed in one of their sharehouses.
I noticed there’s a contract fee, and the standard contract is for 6 months. Does that mean if I stay for a year, I’ll need to pay the contract fee twice? Also, how’s the contract renewal process? Is it a hassle to renew every 6 months, and is there any risk of being evicted after the term ends?
Lastly, do they often raise the rent, or does it usually stay close to the amount you first paid?
by Glassheart37
3 comments
Hi there, I am currently staying with Oakhouse, regarding the contract, yes it is every 6 months but you just need to pay the contract fee the first time, after that they will send you emails when the contract period is about to end to renew it, as for the process it’s not that hard first fill up a form and then once you receive confirmation email, you’d need to call them for them to explain the contract again. As from the fees I think my rent has been raised once since I moved here about 4 years ago. Still I think you could try and look through other agencies that work with foreigners and you might be able to find a better deal. I know there are many companies which contracts last 2 years.
> is there any risk of being evicted after the term ends?
You’d have to do something very wrong to get evicted by yourself. But some time, Oakhouse fails to extend the lease for the property they use as their sharehouse, in that case then yes, you and everyone else are on the street. That’s what happened to an Oakhouse sharehouse in Yokohama I used to stay at. They do give you a discount if you move to one of their other properties, but that’s about it.
I stayed in oakhouse when I first came to Japan, and it is a great place. There is often a good mix of japanese and foreigners. They often have interesting facilities too. The one i stayed in had a public bath, gym, cinema room, billiards etc. I know some have futsal fields etc.. Also, you dont pay for utilities, so I would just leave aircon on all day. You can also get a lot of free stuff there, as people are constantly moving out, or cooking too much.
However, the negatives are that the location generally sucks so bad. Most oakhouses are in the middle of nowhere. Also, the rent is much higher than the local area, for a much smaller room. Finally, you can get some really dirty/weird people living there. Which is a big problem because you have to share a lot of spaces, like the toilets, bathroom, kitchen, living room. One time I had some random guy entering my room while I was in the shower
Also, Oakhouse had a rule that you couldnt bring people over too often or you had to pay more, so was always a hassle sneaking people into the room.
If I was a student nearby, or totally new with no friends I would definitely live there, But long term it would be terrible